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08 February, 2014

Some thoughts on faith, hope, health, and woodworking…

While the subject hasn’t come up here yet, I make no secret of my Christian faith. My faith in Christ is without a doubt the biggest single thing in my life, a central point as it were. I have like so many others along with me, gotten unfocused from time to time. Every time I have lost my focus, God does something, or brings someone into my life, or allows someone to leave my life to bring my focus back where it belongs. I have had the blessing recently to have someone interesting wander into my life and that has inspired me to not only be a better woodworker, but to keep my mind on the things of God…

My health has, for over a decade seen a steady decline, in no small part due to inactivity. You see in October 2000, I was involved in a traffic accident in Houston Texas. I was in the left lane on the North freeway when the brand spanking new, paper tags on it and everything Chevy pickup lost the drivers side front wheel in front of me… I stopped, as did the rest of traffic, when traffic cleared, I checked to see if I was okay to change lanes and go on, and I waited for the Camaro to pass, then seeing the lane behind clear, I changed lanes. The guy in the Camaro stopped suddenly and I stopped… And the guy in the 1985 Pontiac Parisienne flying over the overpass, well… didn’t.

Mind you, I was no skinny puppy at the time, but I was no fatty either. I was 6’ 0” and 230lbs of mostly muscle. Flat stomach and all. While I was working an IT job, I was very physically active, and had just gotten into IT less than 2 years before, my prior job in college was a very physical lumber yard job…

So all 230lbs and 6’ 0” of me being shoved forward HARD managed to snap the seat back the back wall of the cab of my truck, and the front wall of the bed of the truck. To put it bluntly, I had my feet on the pedals still, but from my shoulers up, I was laying in the bed of my truck. I had glass stuck in my head from the back window, and my back hurt like the dickens…

I didn’t want to get hauled to Ben Taub and end up dead before a doctor saw me, so I got a rental car, and went to Clear Lake Regional Medical Center. The doctors got the glass out and stitched up the scalp. X rayed my back, gave me some pain killers and sent me on my way…

I should have gotten a second opinion… I have had back problems ever since then, making it painful to work out, or even enjoy the outdoor activities that I love so much…

Mind you, I have tried to get workouts in there, and I try to get outdoors for things like camping, fishing, and hunting as often as I can, but honestly, I have let the health issues get in the way. And working out just wasn't happening...

Well that in turn led to years of sedentary lifestyle. until I was prodded, very recently by a couple of major events. The first was the visit to the doctors office…

You see I have friends and family that have ended up diabetic due to weight issues, and I do NOT want to go there. But more importantly I endure a good deal of back and joint pain that is exacerbated by my excess weight. However the excersize that I need to do to lose this weight hurts too… And the weight I have packed on isn’t unsubstatial either… This has been an intolerable situation for quite some time now… But for some reason I have been putting up with it, not motivated enough, and lacking the faith in that area that God will see me through this.

I have recently been friended on one of my woodworking forums by a north Texas pastor that is a woodworker, and a cancer patient… And the stories he tells me have brought me no end of motivation. To know what he is going through with Chemo and all, and to see how he stays motivated, and endures what he has to go through with the amount of faith that he shows, it is truly inspiring. I am blessed to have this fellow cross my path.

I have been motivated to endure what I need to in order to get through those workouts, and get out to the shop and do what I can instead of putting it off. No more excuses, the tiem to knuckle down is now, I just need to stay focused on what really matters!

This blog entry is a long winded way of saying I think you should check out this guy’s blog series, “Woodworking For Therapy” on lumberjocks.com. Just maybe you will find that little extra bit of faith and motivation that has been eluding you!

My prayers are for Pastor Steve and his family as they go through his trials, and I hope and pray that I can stay as faithful and positive as he is. May I keep on track with the weight loss program and the workouts I have started. I have lost a good amount of weight so far, and I must admit some frustration as I have been perfectly good on the diet and workout yet I bumped up a tiny bit this week. But the jeans are fitting a little looser...

3 comments:

I've never commented on anything before, but just felt moved to on this post. I've never been to your blog before. I believe God led me here tonight to read something Ive needed to read for awhile now. I've been feeling sorry for myself & needed this kick in the butt so thank you. In a world ashamed of Jesus Christ your openness & honesty of your relationship with him was very refreshing. Stay strong through this and remember, if God is with you then what could stand against you. God bless

Thank you for the kind words. I know the feeling about being discouraged, and, well sorry for myself. You never know what God is going to use to reach you. In all brutal honesty, I stopped worrying about what other people were going to think of me a long time ago. I am much more effective, and much happier for it!

Thanks for Sharing Dave. To each his own, and i respect that. You may not like this, but i have some advice for you. You may feel better and be more motivated when you stop giving the credit to others and start taking credit for who you are and the great things you can do.

Again, i dont mean to be disrespectful, i offer this as a friendly stranger. Many "believers" have/are going through the same thing, they get in a rut and blaim themsleves, and when good things happen they credit god/jesus/budha/etc... How is someone ever going to stay motivated when all the bad things in their life is always their own fault and when something good happens they have to give the credit to someone/something else, ie, Jesus. IMO, when me and mine do good, we should get the credit to help reinforce that action, and when we do bad we should take the responsibility and consiquences. You seem like a pretty decent fella, i dont thank god for that, i thank YOU, maybe you should too. God didnt make you gain weight and he isnt going to make you loose it. He didnt give your family diabetic issues, and he isnt going to fix them.

You may not agree with me, but just reading your posts, it is pretty clear. You have a good person enter your life, supposedly not because you deserve it or earned it or did something to make it happen...no, its because Jesus made it happen? You have a focus, not because you worked at it...but because jesus GAVE you focus? You give yourself no credit. Thats to bad. Now, on the other hand, you don't blaim Jesus for the biabetic issue in your family or the car accident surely an omnipitant being could prevent. How is that fair, especially from a being that is supposed to be all about good/love/respect. Seems like a character someone made up long ago to help steal control from people.

We need to learn from religion, just like all other influences in our lives, but i think that to actually believe in such things is harmful to our lives. I go to the mall, but i dont buy everything on sale. I go to the movies, but i dont pretend the characters are real, i even go to church some times, but i dont pretend that the flood really happened.

I'm not here to debate you on religion. I'm simply telling YOU good job on your projects. YOU are well writen. YOU seem like a good person.

Your last line in your reply to Scott says it all. When you stopped caring what everyone else thought you became more effective. This is true for most people. Stop doing things for GOD and realize you are doing them for yourself. That doesnt make you bad, it makes you GOOD. when you help out a neighbor its because YOU are a good person. When you care for a child its because YOU are a good person. When you are honest and caring its because YOU made that happen. I think it is very sad when people look so poorly on their fellow humans that they think people can only do good because its not actually in their control. I cant prove god is real or not real, but i sure can prove that people can be warm, caring, honest, friendly, loving people WITHOUT god. I do it every day, and ---> I <---- am proud of that.